Foreign ownership of U.S. agricultural land : through December 31, 1994 : a report to the President and the Congress under the Agricultural Foreign Investment Disclosure Act

64 Pages·1995·4.8 MB·English

Historic, archived document
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Reserve
aHD256
.F673
1995
FOREIGN OWNERSHIP
OF U.S. AGRICULTURAL LAND
Through December 31,1994
A Report to the President and the Congress
Under the Agricultural Foreign Investment Disclosure Act
U.S. Department of Agriculture
Economic Research Service

Abstract
Foreign persons owned 14.1 million acres of U.S. agricultural
land as of December 31, 1994. This is slightly more than 1
percent of all privately held agricultural land and 0.65 percent
of all land in the United States. These and other findings are
based on an analysis of reports submitted in compliance with the
Agricultural Foreign Investment Disclosure Act of 1978.
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Preface
This report is made pursuant to section 5 of the Agricultural
Foreign Investment Disclosure Act of 1978, which, among other
things, requires the Secretary of Agriculture to prepare an
analysis of foreign ownership of U.S. agricultural land. The act
requires an annual report to the President and the Congress on a
calendar-year basis. This report covers information received
through December 31, 1994.
Contents
List of Tables. iii
Summary. . . vi
Introduction. l
Summary of the Act and Regulations.. 1
Definitions.. c 2
Analysis of Data Reported Under the Act. 5
Holdings.. 0 5
Acquisitions. 27
Dispositions, Land-Use Changes, and Changes in Status..0 » 3 8
Trends. . 0 4 0
Program Costs and Penalties. 47
Appendix: Report Form ASCS-153.„ „ „ „ 48
List of Tables
Table
1• U.S. agricultural landholdings of foreign owners by
State, December 31, 1994 .6
2. U.S. agricultural landholdings by type of foreign
owner, December 31, 1994 .8
3. Foreign owners of U.S. agricultural landholdings by
State, December 31, 1994 .9
4. Foreign-owned U.S. agricultural landholdings by size of
holding, December 31, 1994 . 10
5. Value of U.S. agricultural landholdings by type of
foreign owner, December 31, 1994 . 10
6. Value of foreign-owned U.S. agricultural landholdings
by date of acquisition, December 31, 1994 . 11
7. Value of foreign-owned U.S. agricultural landholdings
by State, December 31, 1994 .. . 13
8. U.S. agricultural landholdings by country of foreign
owner, December 31, 1994 ... 14
9. Foreign ownership of U.S. agricultural landholdings by
U.S. region, December 31, 1994 . 16
10. Foreign-owned U.S. agricultural landholdings by type of
interest, method of acquisition, and owner-
representative, December 31, 1994 . 19
11. Use of U.S. agricultural landholdings by country of
foreign owner, December 31, 1994 . 20
12. U.S. forest and other nonagricultural landholdings of
foreign owners by State, December 31, 1994 . . . 23
13. U.S. forest and other nonagricultural landholdings by
country of foreign owner, December 31, 1994 . 24
14. U.S. forest and other nonagricultural landholdings by
type of foreign owner, December 31, 1994 . 25
15. Foreign-owned U.S. forest and other nonagricultural
landholdings by size of holding, December 31, 1994 ... 25
16. Intended use of U.S. agricultural landholdings of
foreign owners, December 31, 1994 . 25
17. Tenure of foreign-owned U.S. agricultural landholdings,
December 31, 1994 26
in
Table
18. U.S. agricultural land acquisitions of foreign owners
by State, January 1-December 31, 1994 . 27
19. U.S. agricultural land acquisitions by type of foreign
owner, January 1-December 31, 1994 . 28
20. Foreign owners of U.S. agricultural land acquisitions
by State, January 1-December 31, 1994 . 29
21. Foreign-owned U.S. agricultural land acquisitions by
size of acquisition, January 1-December 31, 1994 .... 29
22. Value of U.S. agricultural land acquisitions by type of
foreign owner, January 1-December 31, 1994 . 30
23. U.S. agricultural land acquisitions by country of
foreign owner, January 1-December 31, 1994 . . 31
24. Foreign ownership of U.S. agricultural land acquisi¬
tions by U.S. region, January 1-December 31, 1994 ... 32
25. Foreign-owned U.S. agricultural land acquisitions by
type of interest, method of acquisition, and owner-
representative, January 1-December 31, 1994 ...... 33
26. Use of U.S. agricultural land acquisitions by country
of foreign owner, January 1-December 31, 1994 ..... 34
27. U.S. forest and other nonagricultural land acqui¬
sitions of foreign owners by State, January 1-
December 31, 1994 35
28. U.S. forest and other nonagricultural land acqui¬
sitions by country of foreign owner, January 1-
December 31, 1994 35
29. U.S. forest and other nonagricultural land acqui¬
sitions by type of foreign owner, January 1-
December 31, 1994 36
30. Foreign acquisitions of U.S. forest and other
nonagricultural land by size of acquisition,
January 1-December 31, 1994 .. . 36
31. Intended use of U.S. agricultural land acquisitions of
foreign owners, January 1-December 31, 1994 . 37
32. Tenure of foreign-owned U.S. agricultural land
acquisitions, January 1-December 31, 1994 .. . 37
33. Dispositions of U.S. agricultural land by type of
foreign owners, by State, January 1-December 31, 1994 . 38
iv
Table
34. Dispositions of U.S. agricultural land by foreign
owners, by citizenship of purchasers, January 1-
December 31, 1994 .. 39
35. Dispositions of U.S. agricultural land by type of
foreign owner, January 1-December 31, 1994 .„ 39
36. Dispositions of foreign-owned U.S. agricultural land by
size of disposition, January 1-December 31, 1994 .... 41
37. Dispositions of U.S. agricultural land by country of
foreign owner, January 1-December 31, 1994 . . 41
38. Dispositions of U.S. agricultural land by country of
foreign owner, by U.S. region, January 1-
December 31, 1994 .. . 42
39. Dispositions of U.S. agricultural land by country of
foreign owner, by use, January 1-December 31, 1994 . » . 43
40. Acquisitions and dispositions of foreign-
owned U.S. agricultural land, by date,
January 1981-December 1994 .. • . . . 44
v
Summary
Foreign persons reported that they owned 14.1 million acres, or
slightly more than 1 percent of the 1.3 billion acres of private¬
ly owned U.S. agricultural land (farm and forest land) as of
December 31, 1994. This is a decrease of 530,445 acres from the
1993 data. These and other findings are based on an analysis of
reports submitted to the U.S. Department of Agriculture under the
Agricultural Foreign Investment Disclosure Act of 1978.
Information received at the time of reporting shows that forest
land accounts for 47 percent of all foreign-owned acreage,
cropland for 18 percent, pasture and other agricultural land for
32 percent, and nonagricultural land for 3 percent.
Corporations own 71 percent of the acreage; partnerships, 21
percent; and individuals, 6 percent. The remaining 2 percent is
held by estates, trusts, institutions, associations, and others„
U.S. corporations in which foreign persons have a significant-
interest or substantial control reported owning 53 percent of the
foreign-held acreage. The remaining 47 percent was reported as
held by foreign persons not affiliated with a U.S. corporation0
Foreign persons from Canada, the United Kingdom, Germany,
Switzerland, the Netherlands Antilles, and the British Virgin
Islands account for 67 percent of the foreign-held acreage.
Foreign persons from Japan own only 3 percent of the foreign^
owned acres.
A number of parcels are owned only in part by foreign investors;
that is, the foreign interest in some parcels is less than 100
percent, with the remaining percentage being owned, for example,
by a U.S. partnership. When the 14.1 million acres are adjusted
for these partial interests, the total foreign-owned acreage
drops to an equivalent of 12.7 million acres.
The largest number of acres owned by foreign persons was reported
in Maine. Foreign holdings in Maine account for 11 percent of
Maine's privately owned agricultural land and 15 percent of all
the reported foreign-owned agricultural land nationwide. Three
companies own 87 percent of the foreign-held acres in Maine, all
in forest land. Two companies are Canadian and the third is a
U.S. corporation that is partially Canadian owned.
Except for Maine, foreign holdings are concentrated in the West
and South, each containing 35 percent of all reported foreign
holdings of U.S. agricultural land.
Foreign persons do not appear to be taking purchased agricultural
land out of production. No change in intended use at the time of
filing was reported for 94 percent of the acres.
No change in tenure was reported for 45 percent of the acres,
while some change was reported for 31 percent of the acres„ No
vi